Rockies-Giants Preview

After putting their recent struggles against the San Francisco Giants to rest last week at home, the Colorado Rockies have their sights set on accomplishing the same goal at AT&T Park.

Colorado will try to end a nine-game losing streak in San Francisco as the clubs open up a three-game set Friday night.

The Rockies, who have lost 19 of 23 at AT&T Park, had dropped 10 in a row overall against the Giants before taking the final three of four games in Denver last week.

Though Colorado (26-21) entered that series having lost seven of 10, the club appears to be rolling again, locked in a three-way tie for first in the NL West with San Francisco and Arizona after a 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

Carlos Gonzalez, hitting .350 with four home runs over his last 11 games, connected for his 11th homer and also recorded his second triple of the season.

"This is a good feeling and creates a lot of motivation for us," Gonzalez said.

Colorado's fifth win in sixth games even came without the services of Troy Tulowitzki, who received a routine day of rest after going 2 for 4 with his ninth home run a night earlier. Tulowitzki, hitting .338 with a team-leading 38 RBIs, has played in 42 of the club's 47 games in an effort to keep him healthy after he appeared in just 47 last year.

"We both knew coming into the season we had to do it this way," manager Walt Weiss said. "I don't want to get into a situation where we say, 'Well, he had two hits last night, I'm going to change my mind.' That's a trap."

The Giants (26-21), meanwhile, have dropped six of nine after a 2-1 loss to Washington in 10 innings Wednesday.

"We're going to have some struggles here and there," said starter Madison Bumgarner. "I don't think anybody is too worried about it."

San Francisco's starters allowed just three runs in 19 innings against the Nationals, but Tim Lincecum (3-3, 4.70 ERA) wasn't so successful in last week's outing against Colorado.

The right-hander yielded six runs and seven hits over five innings while also being charged with a balk and a throwing error in a 10-2 loss on Saturday.

The Rockies could be bolstered by the return of Michael Cuddyer, who is eligible to come off the disabled list after being out with an inflamed cervical disk. Cuddyer was hitting .319 with seven homers and 23 RBIs in 31 games and is 4 of 11 off Lincecum with three doubles.

Though Marco Scutaro's 0-for-3 performance Wednesday ended his 19-game hitting streak, he's hit safely in 15 straight against the Rockies while batting .469. He was 7 for 14 in three games versus Colorado last week.

Buster Posey has also recorded a hit in 13 of his last 14 contests against the Rockies with four homers and 13 RBIs.